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New Mission High School was recently named a recipient of the national Blue Ribbon Award, which recognizes overall academic excellence and progress in improving student academic achievement.

The school, which moved from its Mission Hill location to Hyde Park last year, is one of four schools in Massachusetts to receive the coveted award this year.

"Excellence in education matters and we should honor the schools that are leading the way to prepare students for success in college and careers," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, said in a release. "National Blue Ribbon schools represent examples of educational excellence, and their work reflects the belief that every child in America deserves a world-class education.”

Founded in 1982, the award program highlights both public and private elementary, middle, and high schools with high student performance or where significant improvements have been made.

The school, which has 263 students with the majority being African American or Hispanic, was highlighted for its exceptional MCAS scores.

Ninety-two percent of the school’s 10th-graders scored advanced of proficient in the English category of the exam, 86 percent scored advanced or proficient in the math category, and 66 percent scored advanced or proficient in science

“Their success is our success and it is my hope that other BPS schools will soon join the ranks of Blue Ribbon Schools as well. It is a priority for us to focus on schools at the lower rungs of the achievement ladder and offer them the resources and support to climb to the top,” John McDonough, the Boston Public Schools’ Interim Superintendent, said in a statement.

A release from Boston Public Schools highlighted the school’s Saturday programming, Homework Academy, and personal tutoring as some of the initiatives that contributed to its success.

“We are very excited because for us, this is a validation of all the hard work that we’ve been doing for years,” Naia Wilson, headmaster of the school, said in a statement. “This is really all about the phenomenal staff and the students and their families who have bought into the culture of achievement. The work here has been very strategic, we’ve combined rigorous courses with support. We have intense multiple meetings very week where we look at the data and make sure no student falls through the cracks.”

New Mission is the fifth BPS school and second non-exam school to receive the award, according to BPS.

---Email Patrick D. Rosso, patrick.d.rosso@gmail.com. Follow him @PDRosso, or friend him on Facebook.